Chernobyl Murders

29

While Nikolai anticipated another long night at the Horvath farmhouse, a caravan of three Volgas and a van raced up the hill from the village of Kisbor. The dusk had been peaceful and cool, but now tires on gravel and stones against fender wells sliced the evening apart like an ax. A cloud of dust followed behind the caravan as it skidded to a stop in front of the farmhouse.

A dozen men piled out of the cars and the van. The four from the van carried AKM assault rifles with folding stocks. They were young recruits, wearing determined looks on their faces as they slipped the AKM straps over their shoulders and spread out around the house. The men from the Volgas headed for Nikolai. Except for Major Komarov and Captain Brovko, Nikolai had never seen any of them before. All but Komarov and Brovko were young, like the men from the van.

Nikolai stepped off the stone path to the front door as the group marched past. The only one who looked at him was Captain Brovko, who raised his eyebrows slightly with a puzzled expression. Major Komarov did not acknowledge Nikolai’s presence.

Nikolai imagined how crowded it must be in the small farmhouse with the family and eight more men inside. But soon five young recruits marched out, shouldered their AKMs, and took up positions around the house with the other four. The men spread out in all directions, the farthest being a hundred meters away, where he stooped down and disappeared into the weeds.

In a little while, Captain Brovko came out, told Nikolai to maintain his post on the front path and not to stray because of the other men. Then Brovko went back into the house. Nikolai did not stray, afraid to move after dark for fear one of the new men would empty an AKM in him. But finally, tired of standing in the path with no support, Nikolai walked backward slowly to the house. Once there, he leaned against the wall, feeling somewhat relieved. If Detective Horvath came now, there would be many others for him to confront besides Nikolai Nikolskaia.

At ten o’clock, after the muffled sounds of voices had ceased coming from the house, it was quieter than previous nights because the night bugs, disturbed by men in the weeds, were silent. Nikolai leaned against the front wall of the farmhouse, trying to imagine how men out in the weeds must seem to bug-sized brains. To bug brains, life was simpler. One was either alive or dead, either well-fed or on the verge of starvation, either free to move about or about to be eaten. Perhaps the world of men was not much different.

At eleven o’clock, the front door of the house opened. Captain Brovko came out and motioned for Nikolai to follow. They sat in the captain’s Volga parked at the front of the other Volgas. The captain’s clothing smelled smoky, and Nikolai remembered Komarov was a heavy smoker.

“What do you think of all this?” asked Brovko.

“I was wondering what the local militia thinks,” said Nikolai. “I haven’t seen a militiaman since we’ve been here.”

“Ordinarily one would assume the local militia would supply manpower for an operation like this. Major Komarov has a special interest in the case, as well as connections in Moscow. It’s become embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing?”

“Yes, Nikolai. For several hours, I watched Major Komarov question these poor people. The adults have taken it well. They are frightened, but not for themselves. They are frightened for the children. I detest situations like this.”

“I thought you were trained as an interrogator.”

“I am accustomed to questioning those who have either done something wrong or who are hiding facts about those who have done something wrong.”

“Are you saying Detective Horvath did nothing wrong?” asked Nikolai.

“What do you think?”

“I’m sorry, Captain. This is the way our conversation began.”

“Very well, Nikolai. I understand your hesitation to speak openly. I’m not asking you to condemn Major Komarov. And I’m not using interrogation techniques to trick you.”

Nikolai looked out at the dim light coming through the curtains at the windows of the house. Beyond the house he saw the shadow of one of the men move behind the house. The man had been outlined for a moment against the light from the village of Kisbor. In the hotel in the village was a bed he wished he were in right now.

But Captain Brovko was waiting for his reply, seemingly anxious to criticize the actions of Major Komarov.

“One month ago,” said Nikolai, “I was a PK officer in the town of Pripyat. My partner, Pavel, and I spent our days in the back room of the Pripyat post office reading incoming and outgoing mail. Mostly it was dull-how the weather was, how crops were doing. Patience was part of our training. Pavel and I were good at our work. He knew Hungarian, and I knew Ukrainian.

“Then the reactor at Chernobyl exploded and everything was in turmoil. Instead of doing what we were trained to do, Pavel and I were told to keep an eye on workers from the Chernobyl plant. It was obvious the smart ones like Juli Popovics were getting the hell out of there. Instead of staying around to keep watch on not-so-smart workers, Pavel and I followed Juli Popovics out of Pripyat. Two birds with one stone, as they say. Follow Juli Popovics, who is under ‘official observation,’ and get the hell away from the radiation.

“What we did not expect was to be given pistols and a Volga and told to act like agents trained to do something other than read mail. We were not trained for the confrontation with Detective Horvath. If I could live it again, I would have taken the pistol away from Pavel.”

“A man should never aim a pistol at another unless he is ready to use it,” said Brovko. “Everything would have turned out differently if your partner had pulled the trigger first.”

“He would have missed,” said Nikolai. “He was a poor shot.”

“Did Major Komarov know this?”

“He had our files, our training records. Not only was Pavel a poor shot, anyone who studied his record would have concluded he wasn’t the best person to put in a dangerous situation. Pavel was my friend, Captain. I knew him better than anyone except, perhaps, his wife. But there were things even his wife didn’t know. There were incidents from KGB school, incidents documented in Pavel’s training record…”

“Did Komarov tell Pavel Detective Horvath was dangerous?”

“I’ve thought about this endlessly since Pavel’s death. I’ve come to the conclusion Pavel had been indoctrinated. He was in a state of tension after meeting with Major Komarov. The major did not simply tell Pavel Detective Horvath was dangerous. He wanted something to happen. What he did not want was a clean capture or an escape without incident. Putting Detective Horvath in deeper trouble was the goal. It didn’t matter whether Detective Horvath or Pavel died… or me.”

“I appreciate your honesty with me, Nikolai.”

“Will you arrest me for insubordination now?”

Captain Brovko laughed. “No. If I did, you could deny it, or repeat what I said earlier about Major Komarov’s interrogation of the family in there. He even quizzed the little girls, repeatedly asking them about Uncle Lazlo. No, Nikolai, your secret is safe with me.”

Captain Brovko turned in his seat, spoke more quietly. “I should tell you two of my men located Juli Popovics’ roommate and her boyfriend, who drove her to Kiev. From what they said, Juli Popovics does not sound like the type who would be involved in sabotage. And from my discussions with Kiev militia personnel, Detective Horvath does not seem the type who would murder past associates.”

“Did Detective Horvath kill someone besides Pavel?”

“A man and woman who had contact with Detective Horvath were recently murdered in Kiev. A female friend of Horvath named Tamara Petrov and a male informant. Major Komarov insists Horvath committed the murders while on the run. Both were killed with a knife, the man’s throat slit and the woman stabbed viciously in the abdomen. Does any of this sound familiar, Nikolai?”

“I knew nothing about it. If Detective Horvath murdered these people, everything I said is wrong.”

“You change your opinion easily, Nikolai. I didn’t say anything about it being proven that Detective Horvath committed the murders.”

“I thought you were trying to trick me.”

“The only trick here is getting to the truth while carrying out my orders. I’m concerned about all these young men with AKMs and Stechkin machine pistols. I’m concerned that you and I were both sent here when it seemed we had disappointed Major Komarov.”

“The men I arrived with say Major Komarov is a powerful man who puts duty above all else,” said Nikolai. “They say he gained power many years ago by pursuing and killing a fellow officer wanted for murder. Have you heard of the incident, Captain?”

“It was called the Sherbitsky affair. I researched it before Deputy Chairman Dumenko assigned me to assist Major Komarov. My research into Major Komarov’s past is what prompted this conversation.”

“What shall we do?” asked Nikolai.

Captain Brovko leaned closer. His voice took on a threatening tone. “Perhaps you do not understand about speculation, Nikolai Nikolskaia. I said nothing about taking action.”

“But, Captain, I didn’t mean…”

Captain Brovko grasped Nikolai’s arm. “As KGB officers, we are not in a position to question orders. We will follow Major Komarov’s orders until the orders are overridden. And you, Nikolai Nikolskaia, will repeat this conversation to no one until the time comes!”

When Nikolai resumed his position at the front of the house, the damp chill of night invaded the space between his clothing and his perspiring skin. He wondered if, somewhere, a bullet in a magazine already had his name on it. After a little while, Captain Brovko started the Volga and ran the engine to use the heater. The steam from the Volga’s exhaust rose and hovered above the road like ground fog, the fog, local legend said, was the last breath of someone who had recently died.

The farmer’s name was Bela Sandor, Detective Horvath’s cousin, a shorter, more red-faced fellow. The house smelled of cabbage until Komarov smoked a few cigarettes, making the buxom wife, Mariska, sneeze repeatedly. The Sandors were plump and dressed like typical collective farmers, the woman even wearing slacks beneath her dress. In contrast to these two was Nina Horvath, who was slender and wore tight blue jeans and a bulky sweater to keep warm in the drafty old house.

There were two rooms and an inside bathroom. Nina Horvath’s daughters and the Sandors’ baby were asleep in the smaller bedroom. The larger room was a combination living, dining, and kitchen area. A short while ago, Bela Sandor drew a large curtain resembling an old blanket across the center of the room, leaving Komarov alone in the kitchen area. Komarov sat at the table, staring at the blank television screen just on his side of the curtain. Despite an occasional cough from Bela and sneeze from Mariska, he lit another cigarette and wondered about the sleeping arrangements of the Gypsies on the other side of the curtain.

Komarov stood, walked to a cabinet next to the television, and opened it. The top shelf was filled with unlabeled bottles of wine, the rotgut Bela Sandor used to paint his face red. In the center of the cabinet was a phonograph and a stack of records. Komarov flipped through the records. All were Hungarian, Gypsy music, the album covers with photographs of men and women in ridiculous multicolored attire. One album showed a photograph of a man in a bushy mustache throwing twisted circular bread loaves onto the ground for a woman in a full skirt and boots to dance around. The woman reminded him of Mariska Sandor, who had just released a barrage of sneezes behind the curtain. The man on the album cover had a red and green handkerchief around his neck and reminded him of the Gypsy landlord who had killed his father.

Komarov closed the cabinet and returned to the table. While he sat smoking, he heard what sounded like wheezing coming from behind the curtain. Soon the wheezing changed to a snore. After the questioning this evening, Bela Sandor had taken a half-filled bottle of wine from the table and gone behind the curtain with it. When Komarov could stand the snoring no longer, he put on his coat and went out the front door into the cool night air.

Nikolai Nikolskaia, on guard at the door, stared at him with eyes wide.

“Go inside and keep guard until someone relieves you,” said Komarov.

“Yes, Major.”

Komarov joined Captain Brovko in his Volga. They sat silently, the Volga’s heater blowing warm air over their faces. During this silence, Komarov wondered what Brovko might be thinking, wondered if Brovko knew it was he who had taken the blame for the fiasco at the Hotel Dnieper.

“Because of the necessity to question those in the house, I did not have the opportunity to speak with you earlier, Captain.”

“We have the opportunity now, Major.”

Komarov lit a cigarette, lowered his window slightly, and blew the smoke outside. “The militia found the crook who sold Horvath a car in Korostyshev. Two days ago, the car was seen in Berdichev.

Due to the ineptness of the local militia, Horvath escaped by out-running a train. Yesterday, a man and woman said to be radiation technicians were seen by farmers in Kolomya. They were seen again later in the day by more farmers. Idiot farmers and idiot local militia who fail to communicate with one another when specific orders were given to apprehend the pair! In any case, the man and woman we must assume as being Horvath and Popovics were seen traveling west on the road to Yasinya in the mountains. Their car had changed from white to black, but the pair fits the description.”

“If they crossed the mountains, they might be in Romania or Hungary by now,” said Brovko.

“They will come here, Captain. Or at least Horvath will come.

Deputy Chairman Dumenko agreed to have Nina Horvath sent here in order to guarantee it. This farm is where the cousin, Andrew Zukor, met with the Horvaths. Therefore, Nina Horvath may be involved. The supposed affair between Mihaly Horvath and Juli Popovics may be part of a larger scheme.”

Captain Brovko paused some time before commenting. “What will you do if Detective Horvath doesn’t come?”

“That is for me to decide, with Deputy Chairman Dumenko’s assistance, of course.”

“Of course,” said Brovko.

Komarov detected sarcasm in Brovko’s voice but felt it would serve no purpose to question him. Instead he asked to borrow a flashlight.

“Be careful of the recruits, Major. They might mistake you for Horvath.” More sarcasm?

“I’ll keep the flashlight on so they can see me, Captain.”

Komarov left the Volga, turned on the flashlight, and circled the house. The lights from the village were cut off by a hill so only the top windows of a few buildings were visible. Perhaps this is where Horvath would make his approach, the hill hiding him until he is within a few hundred meters. Komarov scanned the yard with the flashlight. Near the house beneath a tall tree was a fire pit and a few rusted cooking forks stuck into the ground. Near the fire pit was a tree stump with a rusted ax embedded in it. Upon closer inspection, he saw blood on the stump and realized this was where chickens were beheaded. Farther out in the yard was a wooden box shaped like a small coffin. A tattered tablecloth was over the box, and broken utensils and tin plates were placed neatly. A child’s game. The little girls already pretending they are mothers.

It was quiet here. Komarov closed his eyes, breathed the cool night air, and remembered his own yard, his porch, a place in which he was alone with his thoughts of the old days in the GDR and of Gretchen and success. When he thought of Tamara Petrov, especially the way she stared into his eyes after she’d spit in his face, Komarov realized he had an erection. Komarov opened his eyes, turned to the house, and imagined Horvath sneaking up at night like the Gypsy landlord sneaking up on his father after the night at the opera.

As he walked back to the house, Komarov remembered the phonograph and the Gypsy records. How fitting it would be to greet Horvath with the melodies of his ancestors.

Before he went into the house, Komarov turned and saw in the distance the shadow of a man outlined against the lights of the village. The man turned slightly, and the outline of his AKM was visible for an instant. Then the man stooped back down and disappeared.

Komarov lit a cigarette and entered the house.